Shooting From The Hip! – Damn These Night Games

Before knuckling down to some witties of serious substance, there is a single bullet yours truly dearly wishes to unleash towards the direction of the National Sports Commission.

Rumour has it that long-serving boxing administrator Ambrose Kandjii has been grounded by the Zone Six Region nogal in absentia, after the boxing guru, ostensibly angered by biased refereeing during a Zone-6 Boxing Tourney in Botswana, resolved to cease Namibia’s further participation in the regional tournament.

Regional boxing officials did not take kindly to Kandjii’s antics and summoned the boxing official to a Disciplinary Hearing in Maseru, Lesotho, where he was set to face charges of bringing the game of boxing into disrepute.

However, for some unexplained reasons the boxing administrator never made it to the mountain kingdom to face the music and the Disciplinary Committee, clearly irritated by his absence, resolved to hand him an indefinite ban from all boxing activities under its auspices.

Now the fundamental question that needs to be addressed is: what jurisdiction does Zone Six have over Kandjii as an individual and what was the extent of the Commission’s involvement in this nasty debacle?

It is my sincere belief that should Kandjii have been deemed guilty of any wrongdoings, then the onus should have been on the Namibian Amateur Boxing Association via the Sport Commission to act and subsequently institute disciplinary action against him.

There should have been an internal investigation into the debacle and based on the findings of that report, the Commission should have then made recommendations to the Zone-6 Disciplinary Committee on the sanctions to be imposed against the fingered individual.

With Namibia hosting the final leg of the African Olympic Qualifiers in a few days’ time and Kandjii’s expertise urgently needed at this crucial stage,
Boxing Namibia and the country’s elite sports body need to sit down and clear the air over Kandjii’s status if we are to avoid embarrassment and unnecessary animosity amongst the visiting participants.

NFA Must Come Clean on Secretary-General’s Appointment

Yours truly has been following with interest the football governing body’s somewhat unpleasant tactics with regard to the imminent appointment of Barry Rukoro as its Chief Executive Officer.

The long-serving football administrator is being put in a tight corner by his own subjects with all sorts of excuses being advanced to prolong his inevitable appointment to the hot seat.

Like many of us, Rukoro might have his own shortcomings but alas, the brother has been around the block for some time and has acquitted himself well after he was given more than ample time to prove himself.

For the Association to summarily cancel interviews for the position of NFA Secretary General, citing investigations by the Anti Corruption Commission, is far-fetched to say the least.

The NFA as a public entity is expected, and rightly so, to operate in a more transparent manner when it comes to dealing with certain issues and by making the public believe that there it has compiled a list of short-listed candidates while there appears to be none, is to underestimate the intellectual capacity of those who follow the beautiful game.

Until such time the NFA reveals the identity of interested parties who filed applications for the vacant position of Secretary General, suspicion would always reign supreme in this regard.

This whole exercise does not only put the credibility of the recruitment process at stake but compromises Rukoro’s candidacy big time, since it invites unnecessary questions over his genuine suitability for the post.

It’s by now a well-documented secret that the regions have advanced a hundred percent vote of confidence for Rukoro to be given the reins, but for some strange reasons, forces within the organization are dilly-dallying with what an average football fan would have thought is a matter of urgency.

The football public are fully aware of the fact that Rukoro masterminded the presence of most football administrators if not all in the NFA Executive, and this would have been the most ideal opportunity for pay back time, since the delay in the recruitment process could have serious ramifications if not monitored carefully.

Suicidal to Schedule A-Category Matches at Night

Are we going to wait until somebody dies or gets seriously injured before we learn, or what is the issue with football administrators scheduling A-Category matches at night?

The annual derby between Orlando Pirates and Black Africa means quite a lot to both sets of supporters of these two Katutura giants and to have this titanic clash played after darkness has set in, is inviting trouble.

Nevertheless, yours truly has been inundated with calls and requests to put the record straight as to who has been reigning supreme in the Katutura derby over the last couple of seasons, and here’s a brief head to head summary of the two teams since 2002/2003:

– 2002/2003 season Pirates won both legs (2-1) (2-0)
– 2003/2004 season Pirates won one and drew one (1-1) (3 -1)
– 2004/2005 season Black Africa won one drew one (2-1) (0-0)
– 2005/2006 season Black Africa won 1 and drew 1 (5-0) (0-0)
– 2006/2007 season Black Africa won 1 and lost 1 (1-0) (1-2)
– 2007/2008 season Pirates won the first round match (2 -1)